Category Archives: News/Finance

Millions of people speak Spanish in countries throughout the world – it is one of the most widely-spoken languages today. On top of this, it is similar to other members of the Romance language family, which are widely used across Europe and the wider world. This makes it easier to learn for people who have already mastered another Romance language, and means that it can act as a gateway for those who wish to learn more languages. These are two of the principle reasons for the huge popularity of Spanish as an accessible and useful second language to learn. And with the right school, learning Spanish becomes not only easy and accessible, but also enjoyable and rewarding.

Escuela Entrelenguas, in Ronda, is – as their website states – “like a cocktail shaker; a mixture of ingredients that gives you the taste of a cultural experience like no other. Travellers, learners and locals all meet here because we share a common interest – to get to know Ronda in a different way”.

Find your accommodation through Ronda Today! Just use the booking form to the right… Or click here.

Now you too can throw yourself into this heady mix of language learning, cultural events and sustainable tourism, with a new semi-intensive programme for beginners that will run from January 16 to February 11. A one-month course for beginner learners who want to learn in an effective and intensive way, while also taking time to enjoy all of the huge range of delights that Ronda has to offer. Lessons are taught by university-qualified teachers and will take place in the morning, three days a week for two hours each session.

The course will be taught through an immersive and communicative approach, combining fundamental classroom learning with day-to-day immersion and real-life practical application. The price is 140€ plus registration fee, which includes your course textbook.

Don’t miss this opportunity – there are still a few places left! And don´t forget that you can find your accommodation through Ronda Today! Just use the booking form to the right… Or click here.

Another fantastic initiative in Ronda is now looking for new members and “The objetive is to improve the relation, integration and debate between English and Spanish people”

Discussion group Ronda is a collective which was created a few months ago to improve the interaction using both the Spanish and the English languages whilst enjoying a pleasant and relaxed atmosphere. Gathering to exchange ideas about different topics and improving the language is the objective for this group, promoted by several people from Ronda and England. Continue reading Discussion Group Ronda looking for new members→

Mariano Rajoy´s government on Friday approved by decree a fundamental change to the banking sector with the creation of a ´bad bank´ to take ownership of toxic debts held by Spain´s mortgage banks, notably Bankia, Santander, BBVA, and the various cajas with high debt to assets ratios.

Responding to demands from the ECB and other Eurozone members to clean up Spain´s banking industry, the move is expected to satisfy Eurozone partners and start the process of Spain receiving upto 100 billion Euros of banking sector bailout funds to stabilise the economy.

Speaking after the announcement Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, the deputy Prime Minister, said that this additional decree and the creation of the ´bad bank´was needed to “get credit flowing in the economy” again.

Banks with distressed property assets that are transferred into the ´bad bank´ will walk away with a combination of cash, debt or shares to add to their balance sheets, with the requirement that all banks increase their core capital classed as rock solid to 9% of total assets, a shift from the current 8%.

As well, the government announced that remuneration for senior managers and directors of distressed banks would be capped at 500,000 Euros per year, in an effort to stem protests at former directors of failed banks taking home millions of Euros in compensation at the expense of bank shareholders and depositors.

Olli Rehn, Economics Affairs Commissioner for the EU praised Rajoy´s cabinet for approving the decree stating that the creation of a bad bank sends an important signal to the world financial markets that Spain is determined to clean up and strengthen its banking sector.

With unemployment over 25% across the board and important regions such as Catalonia and Valencia asking for central government bailouts, Rajoy´s cabinet needed to do something to stem the banking sector crisis before tackling local government debt.

The Bank of Spain warned at the same time that capital flight to foreign banks had reached 20% of GDP, with June alone seeing net capital outflow of 56 billion Euros, and an estimated total of 220 billion in the first half of the year. Both the Spanish government and Eurozone will be hoping the creation of the ´bad bank´ will be sufficient to restore some confidence and stem the flow of cash leaving the country´s banks.

In a concession to the Spanish public, the economy minister Luis de Guindos announced that the government´s banking agency (Frob) will be given new teeth to take control of failing banks, and replenish funds in the depositor guarantee scheme which have been completely used in previous bank rescues.

After the huge debacle of the Eroski Shopping Centre project collapsing amidst police investigations of corruption against the former mayor and some of his closest colleagues, news is beginning to emerge that other major brands, namely Lidl and Decathlon, may soon announce projects to establish a presence in the city.

The Eroski centre on Avenida Malaga had been intended to house a new bus station, a hypermarket, cinemas, food court, and other retail space, and the project collapse means hundreds of jobs that were to have been created during construction and then as part of ongoing operations have not materialised, leading the current PP/PA government to seek out new opportunities for investment in Ronda.

Ronda still does not have a current general plan (PGOU) for urban development, leaving many hoped for projects in a state of limbo, including hotel developments in the Casco Historico, and the much hyped tourist information and welcome centre along the Tajo. Of more pressing concern however is the lack of space within the industrial area for job creating investment.

Danial Harillo (Delegado de Obras y Urbanismo) the councellor for urban works has confirmed to Ronda Today that the PGOU is his highest priority, and that in the coming weeks he is hopeful the amendments presented by his team will be accepted by the Junta de Andalucia, and that after a 3 month public consultation it will be possible to sign off on the plan which has been in progress since 1995.

Additional zoning for new industrial and commercial developments is to be allocated on land near to the new hospital, as well as expanding the poligono towards the railway line and ring road, both of which would give much needed space for large developments. Lidl had previously expressed an interest in a plot adjacent to the Ford dealership on C/ Rio Odiel, however this now appears to be in doubt.

Decathlon had been mooted to be interested in taking control of one of the Supersol locations in the city, and the recent sale of the entire Supersol chain to Lithuania’s Maxima group could yet see one of the two stores close despite assurances to the contrary. Maxima group had been linked with France’s Carrefour chain as possible new owners of the two stores in Ronda, though it now appears Maxima will start a rebranding exercise nationally after an audit of store performance and customer profiling is completed.

Rumours around Ronda suggest the Supersol on Calle Genal would be the likely loser if one of the stores was to close, strong competition from Aldi and Mercadona having made the store uneconomic to operate, and despite the possible conversion of a vacant lot opposite Mercadona as the new location for the city bus station.

In related news, the mayor Maria-Paz Fernandez has confirmed she is keen to close a deal on the location of the old military headquarters in the city on c/ Commandante Salvador Carrasco which would see an underground carpark built along with a cultural centre and outdoor plaza that will likely house a library.

Geologists from the Universities of Malaga and Granada in association with experts from Germany have confirmed for the first time the presence of diamond bearing rocks in the Serrania de Ronda.

A team of geologists had started a survey of rock formations in the Serrania 5 years ago as part of continuing research into rock types in Andalucia, and two years ago stumbled on small diamonds. Carlos Sanz de Galdeano of the University of Granada explained, “we weren’t looking for diamonds, it was a fluke, but there they were”.

The diamonds found are microscopic and for the most part not visible to the human eye, though may still be desirable to commercial miners for industrial uses such as cutting tips or polishing plates. In addition some jewelers use microscopic diamonds joining them together to create small diamonds though pricing is necessarily much lower than a single stone.

Two of the locations surveyed showed different sizes of diamond, the first containing micro diamonds hard to see without a microscope, while the second location found micro diamonds visible to the human eye under light. The density of diamonds was much lower for the larger size.

Asked if commercial mining of Ronda’s diamonds would be viable, Maria Dolores Ruiz one of the project leaders, said only that the discovery of diamonds was still in a preliminary stage and that the volume of rock needed to be crushed would be substantial and that only mining companies with experience of extracting micro diamonds would be able to assess viability.

As a side note, commercial extraction of micro diamonds has been ongoing in Kazakhstan for many decades, with huge impact on the local environment, and that type of mining in Andalucia may face significant obstacles from enviornmentalists and local government.

The survey covered the Betica range, which also includes Jubrique to Torrox and passes through the Sierra de las Nieves Natural Park,though it is understood the diamonds discovered were not within the park boundaries.

On Friday last week the Spanish President Mariano Rajoy introduced a new financial reform bill into congress, which includes a 2500 Euro limit on cash payments where one party is a business person in an effort to reduce the size of the black market and eliminate false invoices.

Rajoy’s government estimates this will bring an additional 8.1 billion Euros into government coffers and is just one of several measures being introduced to combat tax avoidance. Current estimates suggest as much as 30% of the Spanish economy is fueled by the black market, but as the financial crisis deepens this may increase.

Businesses and self-employed who continue to pay or accept payments greater than 2500 Euros in cash will now be subject to fines that could total as much as 25% of the total disbursement.

All businesses are affected, including hotels and guesthouses, and whilst the move may be difficult to police, Spain’s taxation authorities may adopt more stringent assessment criteria in the event significant cash transactions are suspected.

Private individuals receiving an invoice greater than 2500 Euros, for example building repairs or installations, buying furniture or other high value goods, or paying for holidays etc will now be required to pay using their bank issued card (cc or debit) or send an electronic payment.

A British magazine survey has once again confirmed Spain as the number one property destinations, despite nearly half a million brits leaving the country in 2011 due to the economic crisis in Europe. Official statistics place 391,000 British in Spain, a figure that is usually considered much lower than in actuality due to the number of expats who don’t register for NIE or empadronamiento.

Helping insulate the property market from further losses were 24,815 British new arrivals in 2011 a significant percentage of are presumed to have bought property whilst prices remain depressed.

The value of property in Spain has fallen by around 30% in major cities Madrid or Barcelona, and as much as 50% or 60% in some places where availability is higher than demand. Coastal areas popular with British expats like the Costa del Sol, Costa Calida, and Costa Blanca were particularly hard hit.

The annual ‘Ten Best Places to Buy Abroad’ conducted by A Place in the Sun is widely considered a barometer of British perceptions about the overall safety and desirability of foreign property destinations, and Spain placing first will no doubt be a huge relief to real estate agents who specialise in expat property sales.

Destinations appearing in the top ten list in order of popularity were Spain, France, Portugal, Italy, USA, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Caribbean, and Malta. Seven of the ten destinations are Eurozone countries including the top four.

The USA has risen in the list, notably due to the availability of foreclosed homes in sunny states such as Florida, and the Caribbean is a new entry, suggesting that cashed up buyers are willing to relocate considerable distances.

Reasons for continuing to buy in Europe haven’t changed, with Liz Rowlinson, editor of the magizine saying “What’s really interesting about our annual ‘Ten Best Places to Buy Abroad’ survey is that it shows UK buyers as sticking to tried and tested European countries – yet also willing to travel further to destinations such as Florida and the Caribbean to find their perfect holiday home location.”

This morning Antonio Marin Lara, and three other PSOE councillors Francisco Cañestro, Rafael Lara, and María José Martín de Haro were arrested and will be charged with corruption and money laundering offences.

Agents from the National Police division, the Unidad de Droga y Crimen Organizado (UDYCO), the drugs and organized crime unit, this morning arrived with warrents to arrest the four former councillors at the offices of the town hall and the Office of Urban Develepment, both of which have been registered as crime scenes.

The investigation against former town councillors has been ongoing for more than 12 months with specialist agents drafted in from Malaga to collect and assess evidence against the accused.

Ronda Today understands that all charges will likely be related to urban planning discrepancies. This morning staff arriving for work in both of the offices affected were prevented from entering the premises as further police arrived with large numbers of empty boxes to remove files and documents.

Police have confirmed that they will be widening their investigation and that the private homes of the accused will be sequestred to collect further evidence. Court approved wire taps have been used, and police say several other people, including civil servants and private citizens will be questioned with possible further arrests.

Update 12pm: The regional PSOE-A of Andalucia moved this morning to suspend all four of the accused, meaning that their seats in Ronda’s town council will shortly be filled by other list candidates from the recent municipal elections.

Update 3:30pm: A further three people have been arrested and will join the first four detained in Malaga where all will be formally indicted in court. The police have further announced that crimes being investigated also include forgery, malfeasance, destruction of evidence, and bribery.

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Welcome to one of Spain's most visited cities (and for good reason.) Our little city is very compact and in fact from arriving in Ronda, to seeing the Real Maestranza bullring, the Puente Nuevo and El Tajo gorge, the many beautiful churches, our museums, or the wonderful coffee shops and tapas bars, we have it all within a short 30 minute walk.

A walking tour of Ronda is a pleasant and enjoyable way to spend a lazy few hours, almost everything you could want to see in Ronda is no more than 200-300 metres from the new bridge.Click here to read more about Ronda

But to really get the most out of Ronda, book a hotel, stay with us for a few days and immerse yourself into the City of Dreams.

"We found our way straight to a car park, with the help of your guide, and walked to the bridge. Ronda is so beautiful. Unfortunately, we did not have too much time to explore but managed to see a great deal because we had read the guide in detail and worked out the best use of the limited time we did have. All in all, the guide proved to be a good investment!"